Apparatus for determining eccentricity in tubular sections



Feb. 14, 1950 H. G. FLOYD 2,497,595

APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING ECCENTRICITY IN TUBULAR SECTIONS Filed May 29, 1945 4 Shee ts-Sheet l INVENTOR. 1 flan 7y 6: H91

Feb. 14, 1950 2,497,595

' H. G. FLOYD APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING ECCENTRICITY IN TUBULAR SECTIONS Filed May 29, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 co INVENTOR. 13 2 6727 G Flay (Z.

A TTO/PA/E V5 Feb. 14, 1950 H G FLOYD 2,

APPARATUS FOR bETERMINING ECCENTRICITY IN TUBULAR SECTIONS Filed May 29, 1945 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 HIIHHHHIINI I [I H H INVENTOR.

afzr yaz Feb. 14, 1950 H. G. FLOYD APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING ECCENTRICITY IN TUBULAR SECTIONS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 29, 1945 INVENTOR. H672 7y 6: F'Z( y(i.

Patented Feb. 14, 1950 qlumrao STATES PATENT om cs APPARATUS FOR-DETERMININGECCEN TRICITYIN TUBULAR SECTIONS 'v-Henry-G. Floyd, Birmingham, -Ala., assignor to -McWane Gast Iron PipeCompany, Birmingham, Ala., acorporationlof Alabama Application-'Ma'y29, 1945, Serial N 0. 596,484

-.6 Claims. (Claw- 65) "the molds,'it' sometimes happens ltha tzan amount of eccentricity greater athan :is permissible zzzis found to be present in the fln'ally cast :product "The amount :of eccentric'ity-= is iof course, ade- "ltermin'ed in 'wall thickness in a qaipezat points 1180 apart; and it isthe "purpose :of theapresent invention to provide an apparatus ioryquickly determiningvariationsiin wall'thicknessesinucast iron pipe or comparable tubular :sedtions.

It will be readily understood that-ithe 'variation in'"wall thidkness zat-the middle portion of :a-pipe Will be in iproportion to the: variation'iin Weight of the :metal ontwosi'des of \ia'nplane *through the ax'isof ithe vpipe sand tats-right angles *to 'the points of minimum and :maximum wall thickness. If'fthe pipe .isfplac'edion :anta'ntifriction ro'll "support and rotated-about itsrown axis; the-torque :require'd tofrevolve the same adur- Ting one revolution will vary -'as said wail thick- 'nesseswary, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a. novel apparatus rfofzithe character stated fin which 'ithere are included ;-'an anti-friction -rl1 support for 'a pipe, :means :for rotating the pipe about its axis, andwmean's for visually indicating torque-variations =duringcand incidental to the turning of the pipe.

' "In its more detailed nature theiinvent-ion seeks to-provide an apparatus- 0f the character "stated in =wh'ic'h'there are included a set of spaced antifr iction idler rolls and a senor-spaced rolls in- 'cluding a driver :roll, said roll sets each provid- =-ing-a crotch in'mhichitoreceive :an endiof :a-zpipeto-be-test'ed so that said Lpipe will be supported "by said roll *sets "and rotated lay/said drivensroll,

'a-=driver shaft coupled in drive' irelation withz.-the

driver roll, -a rocker arm mounted for swinging movement about an axis aligned witntthe axis of the driver s'ha'ft, a'p'ovver input shaft coaxial iwithithedrivers'haft, ashaft carried by themoclier arm with its axis in para1lel spaced irelation *to i the arm pivot and 'having a gear on each end thereof, 1 a 'gear :on each of the driver :and power :input shafts each meshing with one of the'gears on the rocker arm carried shaft, and means /for indicating thedegree-of deflection-from the-verticalof the rockerarmincidental to the transmitting of rotary motion from :thenpowler input shaft to the driver shaft. ,1 Another object .of the-invention is to provide an apparatus of thewcharacter stated :in which the rocker =arm ands-the .gear couples connecting the power-input shaft and the driver :shaft are mounted Within a-hou-sing including a sight window havinga position marker viewable therethrough and in which the indicating meanscomj;prises anwindicatorr finger projecting =from the rocker arm in .position fora-heing viewed through rsaidwwindow with relation to said marker.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide .in apparatus of the;character stated, novel means ;for moving pipe-.to-be-tested ontothesupporting vrolls, and tested pipe irom said :-rolls.

With the aboveand otherobjects in view that will hereinafter appear; the "nature of the invention willbe more clearly understood by reference to the following-detaileddescription, the

appended claims, and the several viewsillustrated in the accompanying drawings.

re-In the drawings: 1 Figure 1 is a plan view illustratlngzan apparatus embodying ,:the invention.

Figure 2 is aqside elevation illustratingthe parts shown in 'Figure 1. a

Figure 3: is an vaenlarged detail vertical cross "section taken on -,theline 3-'-3-on Figure l.

1- ;Fig-ure '4 is :an {enlarged :f ragmentaryJ/ertical nlongitudinal :section taken on -:the line 4-41 -on Figure 1. Figure 5. is .an enlarged idetail vertical cross section takenuon :theyline 5-5 on 'Figure 1. c -Figure -6 is an "enlarged detail longitudinal section illustrating one of the .-pipe supporting idler rolls.

Figure 7 :is a diagrammatic :view illustrating onexmanner of automaticallycontrolling the 'pi-pe loading and-unloading devices to operate through single cycles.

v,In uthe apparatusyhereinz disclosed as an :ex- "ample ofembodiment ofthe invention, there :is included a frame structure comprising =two.longi tudinal channels-beams: 5- di'sposeduin @spaced nparallel'lrelationand supported on standards *6,

said bea'ms; being connected by transversely/disfposed', longitudinallyuspaced fra'me members :1.

:FEhree idler srolls; 1:0 are mountedron :the shafts 9 about anti-friction bearings H, and one driver roll I2 is similarly mounted on the remaining shaft 9 in the position illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. All of the rolls are equipped with friction surfaces 13 which may comprise a plurality of rubber rings as indicated in Figure 6, and the rolls are arranged in sets of two, each set providing a rest crotch in which to receive an end portion of a pipe l4. See Figures 1 and 3.

A table 15 is mounted between and supported by the beams 5 between the cooperating sets of rolls It! and I2, and the table supports a motor l6 and a reduction gearing unit generally designated l1 which is driven by pulley and belt connections 18 from said motor and has its slow speed output shaft l9 equipped with a crank arm 20. See Figures 1 and 3.

The driver crank 20 has its free end pivotally connected as in Figure 1 to a side arm member 22 having two spaced pipe rest crotches 23 and 24 formed in the upper surface thereof in the manner best illustrated in Figure 3. The arm 22 is welded or otherwise secured to one end of the sleeve 25 having a similarly notched arm 26 secured at its other end. It will be apparent by reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings that the arms 22 and 26 and the sleeve 25 form a rigid, U-shaped frame.

The sleeve 25 is pivotally secured at its ends as at 21 between the free ends of two arms 28, said arms being welded to the opposite ends of a sleeve 29 which is pivotally mounted as at 30 between brackets 3l secured to the adjacent side beam 5 in the manner best illustrated in Figures 1 and 3.

Pipe roll-ways or supports 32 are provided and are disposed in the manner illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 with their discharge ends 33 in position for delivering pipe 14 into the receiving crotches 24 of the arms 22 in the manner clearly illustrated in Figure 3. Feed-away supports 34 also are provided, and these include downwardly inclined receiving portions 35 which are disposed to receive pipe I4 as they are discharged from the apparatus by the arms 22 and 26 in a manner to be described hereinafter.

The driver roll 12 is connected as at 36 with the slow speed output shaft 31 of a tester unit including a housing 38 having a bearing sleeve 39 in which the shaft 31 is rotatably mounted in anti-friction bearings '40. See Figures 1 and 4. The housing 38 also is equipped with a bearing sleeve 4| which is axially aligned with the sleeve 39 and in which a high speed input shaft 42 is rotatably mounted in anti-friction bearings 43. The housing is mounted on a table 44 which is suitably supported by and between the side beams 5.

It will be apparent by reference to Figures 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings that the power input shaft 42 is driven through pulley and belt connections 45 from a motor 46 supported on one of the side beams 5.

Both shafts 31 and 42 have end portions projeoting into the interior chamber 41 of the housing, and the shaft 31 has a large gear 48 fixed thereon within said chamber. The portion of the power input shaft 42 projected into the housing chamber 41 is equipped with a small driver pinion 49.

A rocker arm 56 is mounted uprightly in the housing in the manner clearly illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. This rocker arm has a bearing sleeve 51 which is mounted about anti-friction bearings 52 on the inward extension of the. shaft 31, and the depending portion of said arm is equipped with a bearing sleeve 53 in which an idler shaft 54 is mounted in anti-friction bearings 55. The shaft 54 is equipped at one end with a driver pinion 56 which meshes with the previously mentioned large gear 48, and at its other endsaid idler shaft'carriesta large gear 51 to which rotation is imparted by the-previously mentioned driver pinion 49.

An indicator finger portion 58 projects upwardly from the rocker arm hub 5| and extends through an opening 59 in the top of the housing and into the interior of a hollow cap member 68 secured over said opening. The cap member is equipped with windows 6| as shown in Figures 4 and 5, and the indicator finger 58 and a cooperating suitably calibrated scale plate 62 stationarily mounted within the hollow cap member 60 can be viewed through said windows.

A quantity of oil 63 is maintained in the bottom of the housing 38 and is viewable through a window 64 provided in the housing side wall. A bracket member 65 is secured to and depends from the lowermost bearing sleeve 53 of the rocker arm, and said bracket rotatably supports an oiler disk 66, the lower portion of which dips into the oil 63 and the upper portion of which engages with the driver pinion 56. By this means, the gear couple 48, 56 is suitably lubricated, and it will be apparent that the gear couple 49, 51 is suitably lubricated by reason of the fact that the large gear 51 dips into the oil 63.

It will be apparent by reference to Figure 3 of the drawings that the pipe l4 which are to be tested may be moved into position by operation of the arms 22 and 26, and after the testing of each pipe is completed, the tested pipe can be removed from the rolls by the same arms. It will be apparent that when the apparatus is in operation, the pipe to be tested can be rolled by hand over the supports 32 and into the receiving notches 24 of the arms 22 and 26, and on each complete revolution of the-shaft I9 the crank arm 20 will function to move the arms 22 and 26 from the position illustrated in Figure 3 through a complete cycle of movement effective to deposit the tested pipe [4 onto the inclined feed-away support portions 35 from the arm crotches 23, and move the next pipe to be tested onto the roll sets l0, l0 and l0, 12. In other words, each pipe to be tested is moved by the arm notches 24 onto the supporting and turning rolls as indicated at A in Figure 3, and each tested pipe is moved by the arm notches 23 from the rolls onto the feed-away inclines 35 as indicated at B in said figure. In this handling of the pipe, the free ends of the arms 22, 26 follow the circular path of the pivotal connection thereof with the actuating crank arm 28, and the other ends of the arms, pivotally connected with the arms 28, merely rock back and forth at said connections 21.

It will be apparent that if the pipe being tested is concentric in section, the torque required to turn it will be uniform and not very great, whereas if the pipe being tested is eccentric in section the amount of torque required to turn it will be considerable and will vary in proportion to the eccentricity of the pipe section. It will be apparent by reference to Figures 4 and def the drawings that the torque required to turn the shaft 31 and the test pipe to be rotated thereby will be reflected in a resistance to rotation of the gear 48. To overcome this resistance to rotation, the teeth on the pinion 56 must exert tangential force against the teeth on the gear 48. This force camper zreactson the rockersarmifl andwill causeiitttotbe deflected from' its*normallyzverticalposition illusitr'ated in Figure 5. Thus the: rocker arm :ll:;acts somewhat like a pendulum and' the amount of deflection thereof :from the verticalc-will .be 'in :proportion to-the tangential force exerted by the teeth ofs'the pinion 56 on the teeth of:the gear "48. The. amount of deflection of the rocker arm "50 :will 1 indicated hy the movement ofv the indicatorffinger 58 relative to.:the scale-62. J As previously stated; if the --pipe":being' tested is concentric sectionflthtorque required to turn it will be uniform and the pointer 58 will indicate only the amount of frictionwhich'has'to be overcome. eI-Iowever, if the pipe -iS Ofz1lI1GV6ll section, the torque required will vary as the pipeis turned and the pointer58 will swing back and forth, and by properly "calibrating the scale" 62 the pointer willaindicate the amountaof variation Ana-wall iilhicknessjofithepipe.

:3It.;is itobe understood that, the parts iinathe 'ctester reunit rotate continuously; :It is preferred that the pipe loading and unloading devices including the separate motor l6 be operated through single cycles. This may be accomplished in any approved manner, and in Figure '7 there is diagrammatically illustrated means for controlling this loading and unloading operation. It will be apparent by reference to this figure that the motor l6 may be connected at 68 in a power and control circuit including a normally open, manually operated control switch 69 and a normally closed limit switch 10 connected as at 1| in said circuit in such position that each time the sleeve 25 or some other part movable with the U-shaped loading and unloading frame 22, 25, 26 returns to the normal position illustrated in Figure 3, it will contact the button of the switch and open the circuit to terminate the single cycle loading and unloadin operation. It will be obvious that each time the switch 69 is manually closed, it will complete the circuit through the motor, and when the button of the switch 10 is depressed, it will break said circuit.

While one form of the invention has been shown for purposes of illustration, it is to be clearly understood that various changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for determining eccentricity in tubular sections, anti-friction support means for supporting a section to-be-tested and including at least two sets of rolls each composed of two laterally spaced rolls on which said section may rest, drive means connected in drive relation with one only of said rolls for continuously rotating said section about its axis, and means connected in said drive means and operable for Visually indicating torque variations during and incidental to the continuous rotation of the pipe.

2. In apparatus for determining eccentricity in tubular sections, anti-friction support means for supporting a section to-be-tested and including at least two sets of rolls each composed of two laterally spaced rolls on which said section may rest, drive means connected in drive relation with one only of said rolls for continuously rotating said section about its axis, and means connected in said drive means and operable for visually indicating torque variations during and incidental to the continuous rotation of the pipe, each said roll including a plurality of removably 1 tthe de'livery of-:-each said section onto ,saidrsup- :port means: for "removing .a tested section :from said support means with a predetermined ltest- :zing T interval intervening each placement: .aofz. a tubular section on said supportrmeans zandsthe -removalroflsaid section therefrom.

.1 14.1111 eapparatus .ifor determining eccentricity line tubular sections, antiefriction vsupport'imeans ofor supporting assection to-beetested, drive means for continuously rotating said section about its axis, means connected in said drive means and operable for visually indicating torque variations during and incidental to the continuous rotation of the section and crank and link devices having tubular section engaging carrier crotches thereon and operable through manually initiated automatically terminated cycles for removing each tested section from the rolls and replacing it with a section to-be-tested.

5. In apparatus for determining eccentricity in tubular sections, anti-friction support means for supporting a section to-be-tested, drive means for continuously rotating said section about its axis, means connected in said drive means and operable for visually indicating torque variations during and incidental to the continuous rotation of the section, and means for removing each tested section from said support means and replacing it with a section to-be-tested, said last named means being timed to operate through successive tubular section placing and removing cycles with a section testing interval intervening each two cycles and including a pair of arms having two transversely spaced sets of longitudinally aligned notches in their upper surfaces each setdisposed to support a tubular section, a rollway for supporting tubular sections in position for being rolled into one said notch set, rockable crank arm means supporting the arms at one end, rotary crank means supporting the arms at their other ends, means for operating said rotary crank means, a feed-away rollway disposed to receive tested tubular sections from the other notch set, said parts being so cooperatively arranged that upon each rotation of the crank means a tested tubular section will be lifted from the anti-friction support means by said other notch set and deposited onto the feedaway rollway and a tubular section to-be-tested will be lifted by said one notch set and deposited on said anti-friction support means, and means for causing the tubular section removing and replacing means to operate through manually initiated automatically terminated cycles and comprising an electric motor in said means for operating the rotary crank means and a control circuit therefor having a manually operable circuit closing switch and a normally closed switch automatically opened by contact therewith of a part returning to normal position after the depositing of the tested and untested tubular sections on the anti-friction supportmeans; and -feed-awaylro1lway.

6. In apparatus for determining eccentricity tubular sections, anti-friction support means forv supporting a section to-be-tested, drivemea'ns for continuously rotating said section about its axis, means connected in said drive means and operable for visually indicating torque variations mduringand incidental to the continuous rotation 'of the pipe, and means for removing each tested section from the anti-friction support means and replacing it with a section to-be-tested, said last named means being timed to operate through successive tubular section placing and removing cycles with a section testing interval intervening each two cycles, and including a pair of arms having two transversely spaced sets of longitudinally aligned notches in their upper surfaces eachset disposed to support a tubular section,

a rollway for supporting tubular sections in position for being rolled into one said notch set, rockable crank arm means supporting the arms at one end, rotary crank means supporting the a'rmsiat their other ends, means for operating said rotary crank means, a feed-away rollway disposed to receive tested tubular sections from the other notch set, said parts being so cooperatively arranged that upon each rotationof the crank means a tested tubular section will be lifted from the anti-friction support means by said other notch set and deposited onto the feedaway rollWay and a tubular section to-be-tested will be lifted by said one notch set and deposited on said anti-friction support means.

HENRY G. FLOYD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 3,145 Allen June 29, 1843 412,360 Barclay Oct. 8, 1889 1,557,956 Zubaty Oct. 20, 1925 

